The Book of Atlantis Black

The Search for a Sister Gone Missing; A Memoir

By: Betsy Bonner

Narrated by: Laura Jennings

For Grace Bonner, the bond of sisterhood is an exquisite, painful thing. In The Book of Atlantis Black, Bonner unravels the mystery of her sister and what happened in the final months before her disappearance, alleged overdose, and death.

With access to Atlantis' email and social media accounts, Bonner attempts to decipher and construct a narrative around the circumstances surrounding her probable death: Frantic and unintelligible notes on Facebook, alarming images of Atlantis with a handgun tucked in the waistband of her pants, Craigslist companionship ads, DEA agent testimony, video surveillance, police reports, and various phone calls and moments-in-the-flesh conjured from memory.

Through the construction and deconstruction of these materials and the history only she and Atlantis shared, Bonner finds questions that lead to only more questions, red flags that point in no particular direction, leaving her to decide how far she will go to understand a sister who, like the mythical island she renamed herself for, might prove impossible to find.

©2020 Betsy Bonner (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Very Easy to listen to and follow along…

Really enjoyed how the book brought me straight back to my own high school years and early 20s. Relatable and well written as well as very well read. I truly hope the family finds all the answers they deserve. Great Book!

The book of Atlantis black -review

Really well narrated and written. So sad but really enjoyed it very much. Thank you

No resolution

I listened to this very compelling story only to be left with no real answers. No closure for me or the author.

Heart-wrenching and compelling biography/mystery

I just discovered this gripping account of the life and death of a musician I knew during my brief year living and playing music in NYC. Atlantis and I weren't close, but I do have a fond enough memory of her to be invested in and deeply affected by this book. Her sister has done an incredible job in this portrayal of a deeply troubled soul, drawing out vivid memories, both bitter and sweet. I didn't know Atlantis well enough to know that her stage persona was not an act, rather a kind of an intimate exorcism or catharsis. She was beautiful, so I made that stupid assumption that her life must be easy. However painful the truth, I'm grateful that her sister shared Atlantis' story with the world. I can't imagine the anguish of walking through life, with so many heavy questions hanging over the loss of a loved one. I send my love to the Bonner sisters and I hope that karma intervenes to somehow shine a light on the final, tortured chapter of this young, sensitive artist's life.

Infuriating

Atlantis Black was a narcissistic, borderline personality disorder drama queen who came to seemingly liken herself to Pablo Escobar because of an arrest on an allegedly fake Vicodin prescription. Vicodin?? The Tylenol of the opiate spectrum?? Her melodramatic self-absorption was co-opted by her sister who wrote the book. The narrator's droning void of a voice and precise multisyballic pronunciation of even three letter words made me want to shoot myself. This is a white-privilege hullabaloo. Just maddening.